Women's Journal: Bobcats know ties won't fly in playoffs

It was a wild and crazy end to the regular season this year in
the ECAC. Clarkson, Harvard and Cornell entered the final day of
the season in a battle for the top three spots in the league. Since
the three teams were separated by just one point in the standings
on the final day of the season, the determination of the top three
seeds for the league playoffs came down to the wire.

The end of the regular season was a disappointment for Cornell.
The Big Red controlled their own destiny since they entered the
final two games of the regular season in sole possession of first
place, but finished third after they lost both games last
weekend.

Harvard was tied with Clarkson for second place ahead of the
final weekend, but the Crimson’s tie with Yale Friday
combined with a Clarkson win over Rensselaer meant Harvard sat one
point behind Clarkson on Saturday morning. Harvard beat Brown on
Saturday to earn two points, but could not catch up to Clarkson,
who won the regular season championship when it took care of
business with a win over Union Saturday. Harvard will be the No. 2
seed in the ECAC tournament.

The ECAC tournament will feature three other New England teams
as No. 4 Quinnipiac, No. 7 Yale and No. 8 Dartmouth also qualified
for tournament spots.

Quinnipiac enters the postseason looking to polish up on the
finishing details of its game. The Bobcats led the nation in ties
this season with nine, but in many of those games, Quinnipiac had a
lead that it let slip away. Since ties will not fly in the
postseason, the Bobcats have spent much of the lead-up to the
playoffs attempting to buckle down on its effort in all three areas
of the game.

“We’ve been evolving this half, we’re a little
tighter defensively and we’re attacking much harder from an
offensive standpoint so I think things are coming together at the
right time,” said Bobcats coach Rick Seeley. “But our
conference is tough. It doesn’t matter who you’re
playing. It’s going to be a great series.”

The ECAC plays a semi-forgiving best-of-three quarterfinal
format, which will take place at campus sites this weekend ahead of
the single-elimination semifinals and a championship game held at
campus sites next weekend.

Here’s a look at the ECAC playoff bracket:

No. 1 Clarkson vs. No. 8 Dartmouth

Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Sunday at 2 p.m. (if necessary)

No. 2 Harvard vs. No. 7 Yale

Friday at 7 p.m.

Saturday at 4 p.m.

Sunday at 4 p.m. (if necessary)

No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 6 Princeton

Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday at 2 p.m.

Sunday at 2p.m. (if necessary)

No. 4 Quinnipiac vs. No. 5 St. Lawrence

Friday at 7 p.m.

Saturday at 4 p.m.

Sunday at 2 p.m. (if necessary)

Over in Hockey East, the playoff picture at the top of the
standings was more stable entering the final weekend of the season.
Boston College and Boston University locked up the first and second
seeds, respectively, before the final weekend, and Northeastern and
Vermont were assured of home ice but used the weekend to determine
who would finish third (Northeastern) and who would take the
four-spot (Vermont).

The bottom of the standings featured four teams separated by
four points entering the weekend, but it was only last-place Maine
who improved its stock, as it swept then-fifth-place Connecticut to
steal the fifth-seed away from the Huskies. Sixth-place Providence
and seventh-place New Hampshire were both swept last weekend as
well, so they were bumped down one place each in the standings.

That means No. 8 UNH has the unenviable task of facing No. 1 BC
– who has only lost two league games all year – in the
single-elimination quarterfinals.

Boston University enters this year’s tournament as the
two-time defending Hockey East Tournament champions, but this March
could prove more difficult for the Terriers, who were a mediocre
4-4 in February.

“Right from the get-go in the playoffs, it’s going
to be a one-and-done scenario,” said BU coach Brian Durocher.
“Maybe in the past couple years, we had that type of
firepower where the No. 1 – No. 8 or No.2 - No.7 match-up was
maybe a game where we were favored by a couple goals, but I think
this year if you look around, it’s going to be a knockdown,
drag-out one-goal game.

“You’re hoping the hockey gods and performances are
on your side on that one day because it is a challenge.”

All quarterfinal games will be held at campus sites before the
league moves to Hyannis for the semifinals and championship
game.

Here’s a look at how the Hockey East quarterfinals
shake out:

No. 1 Boston College vs. No. 8 New Hampshire – Friday at 7
p.m.

No. 2 Boston University vs. No. 7 Providence – Saturday at
3 p.m.

No. 3 Northeastern vs. No. 6 Connecticut – Friday at 7
p.m.

No. 4 Vermont vs. No. 5 Maine – Saturday at 1 p.m.

Player of the Week

Kelly Babstock, Quinnipiac

The senior forward hit the 200-career point marker in the
Bobcats’ final regular season game with an assist in the
second period of a 3-0 win over Colgate. Babstock is the first
women’s hockey player in Quinnipiac history to reach 200
career points.

Power Rankings

Boston College (Overall: 25-5-3, Hockey East: 18-2-1) –
The Eagles look unstoppable heading into the postseason. They have
just one loss on the books since Nov. 29 and just two league losses
all season. Their 5-1 pounding over No. 2 seed Boston University to
close out the regular season probably does not bode well for anyone
else in Hockey East.

Harvard (Overall: 21-4-4, ECAC: 16-3-3) – The Crimson have
played in quite a few tight games recently, as six of their last
nine games have either been one-goal or tie games. Harvard might be
hoping practice in tight games makes perfect, as it faces a Yale
team in the ECAC quarterfinals that it never beat during the
regular season.

Quinnipiac (Overall: 20-5-9, ECAC: 11-4-7) – The Bobcats
clinched a home-ice spot thanks to a come-from-behind win over No.
3 Cornell last Friday and a 3-0 blanking of Colgate on Saturday.
Their quarterfinal match-up against St. Lawrence will be tough,
however, as they were unable to beat St. Lawrence during the
regular season.

Northeastern (Overall: 18-13-2, Hockey East: 13-6-2) – The
late-surging Huskies enter the postseason with wins in 11 of its
last 12 games, and if Northeastern can continue playing its best
hockey right now, it could be in good shape to contend for its
first Hockey East Tournament championship in program history.

Boston University (Overall: 21-12-1, Hockey East: 14-7-0)
– After recording all seven of its conference losses in the
second half of the season, the Terriers have to be hoping they have
gotten their losing ways out of their system. The home ice playoff
berth might help in the quarterfinals, as BU is 4-0 in Hockey East
quarterfinal games at Walter Brown Arena.